I'm hoping to travel to Sweden, Denmark and Norway next summer and wondered if the Rick Steve's tours take part in any of the mid-summer's eve celebrations and if travelers have a preference for seeing the celebrations in Norway or Sweden?
Kirsten
Posted by
Berlin
2230 posts
Midsummer is more a Swedish than a Norwegian festival and lasts more than one evening only. But do not try to celebrate it in the cities. They are nearly empty except the tourists. More info and a video on Swedish midsummer.
Norwegians do more celebrations and parades in traditional clothing including live TV on May 17, Constitution Day.
Tip: To experience midnight sun you must be north of polar circle. Here Norway has the to me more beautiful spots: https://www.visitnorway.com/things-to-do/nature-attractions/midnight-sun/
Take care of the dates from when to when midnight sun is available at the destinations.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3391 posts
We spent a month in Norway that coincided with the Midsummer celebrations. We stayed in the area of Alesund. You will see these celebrations but they are quite local and there is nothing more than a community dinner and/or just a bonfire on the water. The bonfire in Alesund is the largest and most spectacular in all of Norway and is a public event! They pile up pallets about 40 meters high and light it on fire. It is amazing to see. When driving around before that night, you will see piles of discarded construction materials and other junk made of wood piled up all around along the coastline. That night you will see columns of smoke rising from all of the individual family celebrations.
Posted by
SD
114 posts
We celebrated mid summer Eve in Sweden, Skåne county(South Sweden) last year. There was a little village next to Ales Stenar. We really enjoyed the festivities. But on the other hand, lots of places were closed which we wanted to see.
We drove for couple days in Skåne county and it was once of best road trips we have done.
Have fun!
Posted by
Ozarks of Arkansas
279 posts
In the mid 1990s a colleague and I rode the Telemark Canal from Skien to Dalen. By pure coincidence the day was Midsummer’s Eve. There were many activities along the canal with people in a variety of costumes. Very interesting.
When we arrived in Dalen we found our customer, Statkraft, having a big company/family barbecue.